“After being shopped last year for $1 billion, SoundCloud could end up being sold so cheaply that its founders may have trouble turning a profit. Deezer, which has an estimated 6.9 million subscribers mainly outside of America, is said to be among potential suitors, and it has the heft of ownership by Warner Music parent company Access Industries. Or might Apple Music be interested in a distinctive free tier to go along with its carefully branded subscription service? Google’s name periodically surfaces in the rumor mills as well. For music fans, SoundCloud’s struggle is another age-old story of a vital cultural wellspring that loses its identity in a quest for profitability. It typically ends with a 21st-century graveyard of broken embeds, dead links, and lost sounds.”